What Never Should Be: The Physician's Tale
by blucougar57
Summary: The newest addition to Jack's team results in a conflict of personalities.... Complete.
1. Introducing Owen

Ianto watched in silence from the sanctuary of the Hub's greenhouse as Jack introduced their newest potential recruit to the marvels of Torchwood. Although, he had to concede that calling it a greenhouse was a bit of a misnomer. So far, all it housed was one slightly wilting green and fluorescent pink fern from a planet whose name even Jack couldn't pronounce. They had briefly possessed a lovely looking bouquet of flowers from the planet Geb, but Jack had been forced to incinerate them after they tried to eat Toshiko.

He shook himself back to reality, and returned his focus to the new recruit.

Dr Owen Harper. It took some effort not to think that without a grimace, but honestly? When Jack had said he was taking a solo trip to London to deal with what he believed was some form of incubus, Ianto hadn't expected him to come back three weeks later with a new medic.

Yes, they needed one. Ianto wasn't disputing that. What he did dispute was the wisdom of hiring someone whose fiancée had just been killed by an alien. Jack wanted to establish a new Torchwood that kept an open-minded attitude towards alien life. He wasn't so sure that Owen Harper was the best candidate, given those parameters.

"Oh, he _is_ cute."

Ianto raised his eyebrows as Toshiko came to stand beside him.

"Compared to what?"

Tosh smacked him lightly on the arm.

"Don't be like that. Jack made a good choice. Have you seen his records from his time in A&E?"

"Have you seen his record for being arrested for drunk and disorderly in the two and a half weeks since his fiancée died? I didn't think it was possible to be arrested that many times in a twenty-four hours period."

"He's still mourning, Ianto. Leave him alone. Let Jack sort him out."

Ianto held his tongue and chose not to respond. The truth was that he felt a very real concern over whether they were going to be able to cope with Owen's unique brand of PTSD. When he'd convinced Jack to consider Toshiko for their team, he admittedly had played on Jack's own PTSD by turning his attention towards someone with whom he could empathise. Both Tosh and Jack were damaged and wounded souls, but having been through similar experiences they were able to help each other in small but significant ways. Ianto honestly could not see how Jack could practically help Owen Harper to heal from his hurts, and not be hurt himself in the process.

More than anything, Ianto wanted to save Jack from being hurt again.

He came back to the present once more at the sensation of Toshiko nudging him.

"Jack's calling us. I think it's time to meet the newbie."

Ianto groaned softly.

"I just hope Jack isn't making a mistake."

Toshiko looked at him reprovingly.

"Ianto, you're going to have to start trusting him to make decisions on his own about this place, even if they do turn out to be the wrong ones. After all, you're the one who keeps insisting that he needs to be more independent. How can he be, if you keep second-guessing him?"

With some embarrassment, Ianto realised Toshiko was right. He was advocating independence to Jack, while at the same time undermining him by constantly questioning his decisions and choices. Tosh looked amused.

"Anyone would think you were worried that Owen might be competition."

"Tosh!"

"Well, really, Ianto. You've been skulking up here since Jack arrived back, instead of going straight down there and showing him how much you've missed him."

Heat spread through Ianto's cheeks. He was finding it increasingly hard to maintain his composure and dignity.

"I'm not so sure that Owen would appreciate the wanton display of affection, given his circumstances," he pointed out, but Tosh only rolled her eyes.

"I'm hardly suggesting that you throw him down and shag him right in front of us," she retorted, and Ianto felt his face heat up even more. "Just go down there and give him a hug, and maybe a quick kiss. You can save your wanton displays of affection for home, thankyou."

"Or down in the archives, knowing Jack," Ianto retorted. "The man has just gone three weeks without sex. If he can bring himself to wait until we get home tonight, it'll be a bloody miracle."

* * *

Dr Owen Harper was impressed. Oh, he had no intention of ever admitting it, but he _was_ impressed. When Harkness had described the Torchwood base to him during their train journey from London to Cardiff, the man really had not done the place justice.

When Harkness had invited him to come to Cardiff, he hadn't really taken it seriously. In fact, if it weren't for what he'd seen protruding out of Katie's skull inside that OR, he would have been questioning the man's sanity. As it was, he was quietly questioning his own.

But he'd gone with Harkness, and now here he was, surrounded by things his weary mind could barely comprehend.

"This is a world away from London," Jack told him quietly, "away from A&E. It's not a safe place, either. Don't kid yourself otherwise."

"Why me?" Owen asked finally. "Out of everyone you could've picked, why me?"

Jack shrugged.

"Convenience."

Owen laughed bitterly.

"At least you're honest about it."

"That's not the only reason," Jack went on. "You didn't just dismiss what you saw. You didn't let other people convince you that you just imagined it. You've got a strong mind, Owen. Put that together with your medical skills, and you're exactly who I need."

"I'm a natural born sceptic," Owen told him.

"Scepticism is healthy."

"I'll only end up pissing you off."

"So? We can take our frustrations out on each other. What d'you say, Owen? Give me a chance, and I'll prove to you that you belong here."

A wry smile creased Owen's thin lips, and he accepted Jack's outstretched hand.

"Challenge accepted. Now, where are your little sycophants that you mentioned?"

Jack's eyebrows went up.

"Trying to piss me off already? I thought you might have waited for at least twenty-four hours."

Owen smirked.

"Why waste valuable time? And anyway, is it working?"

It was Jack's turn to smirk.

"My patience isn't endless, but believe me when I say it'll take a lot to tip me over the edge. My team, on the other hand, have guns and they know how to use them."

"And we're also rather good at cover-ups."

Owen turned to look at the young man who had spoken – barely an adult, by his reckoning – and the woman with him, as they approached. He couldn't stop himself from appreciating how pretty she was, only to immediately suffer a sharp pang of guilt as his memories flashed back to his precious Katy. Before he could stop himself, he found himself opening his mouth and speaking before he could think twice.

"Nice bit of skirt you're keeping here, Harkness. Is she on the benefits list, or are you keeping her to yourself?"

Tosh went bright red at the crude assumption, but before either she or Jack had a chance to speak, Ianto stepped forward and took a swing. His fist collided with Owen's jaw, and the pain that flared through his hand was momentarily drowned out by the satisfaction of seeing Owen stagger backwards.

"Congratulations," Jack said dryly. "You've managed to piss off your teammates before you even met them. That's got to be a record."

"Jack, I want him out of here!" Ianto snapped. "I don't care how good a doctor he is, or what his issues are. He does not get away with treating Tosh like that."

Jack gave Ianto a look that pled for patience before turning back to Owen with a hard stare.

"Owen. I'd like you to meet Ianto Jones, my second-in-command, and Toshiko Sato, our expert in all things computer. So not only is she incredibly beautiful, but she's brilliant as well, and you do not get to treat her like chattel. You hear me, Dr Harper?"

As he spoke, Jack's voice took on a distinctly warning tone. He never made a move to touch Owen in any way, but the doctor seemed to get the point regardless. When he looked back at Tosh, there was genuine apology in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I really am. That was totally unacceptable."

"Yes, it was," Tosh agreed. "Lucky for you, I'm big on giving people second chances. Now, come with me and I'll show you the autopsy bay and med room."

"I'm still not happy about this," Ianto fumes once they were out of earshot.

"He'll find his feet," Jack assured him. "Just, can you at least try to give him a chance? He might be a bit abrasive..."

"A bit? Did you not hear what he said about Tosh?"

Tosh can defend herself," Jack countered. "We need him, Ianto. I think he'll do good here."

Ianto met Jack's gaze, and let his breath out slowly. There was a hopeful look on his lover's face, one that begged for patience and understanding.

"Do you really believe that, Jack?"

"Yes. I do."

"All right, then. But you do realise that Tosh thinks he's cute?"

"She likes him, huh? That's great! That makes it a mutual attraction."

"A what...? Bloody hell, Jack, please tell me you're not playing match-maker here!"

How Jack managed to look so innocent was a mystery that was completely beyond Ianto's comprehension.

"What?" Jack protested when Ianto glared at him. "They'd be good for each other!"

Ianto shook his head in aggravation.

"If he hurts Tosh in any way, Jack, I'll kill him, and then I'll kill _you_."

* * *

"That Jones bloke is a bit testy," Owen grumbled.

"He tends to be very protective," Tosh conceded.

"Of you?"

"Partially, but mostly of Jack…"

"What? You're not about to tell me that they're shagging, are you? Bloody hell, what sort of place have I walked into?"

Any further remark was lost when Tosh gave him a look that had him feeling like a leper.

"That's hardly any of our business, but there are other issues there. You'll eventually understand, if you're here for long enough."

Owen grimaced.

"That doesn't sound encouraging."

"Well, it depends. Your odds of surviving will improve dramatically if you can keep from regularly insulting the boss and his second-in-command. Secondly, this isn't the safest place to work, Dr Harper. Surely Jack made that clear, at least? We deal on a daily basis with things that could get you killed. If you're going to work here, and survive beyond the first week, then you'd better be prepared to put aside your issues and work with us. Not against us."

Owen's gaze shifted from speculative to appreciative.

"You don't take any crap, do you, Miss Sato?"

A small smile graced her features.

"No, and if you're here long enough to earn our trust, then you might eventually find out why. And for the record, it's just Tosh."

He accepted her offered hand but rather than shake it, he brought it to his lips and brushed a feather-light kiss over the knuckles.

"Owen, at your service."

* * *

"You see?" Jack practically crowed as Ianto switched off the CCTV footage they'd been watching. "I told you she could handle him."

Ianto rolled his eyes. He was relieved for Tosh's sake, of course, but that didn't stop him from feeling peeved that Jack had apparently been right.

"Fine," he said shortly. "I'm just going to do a quick tidy-up around the Hub, and then we're going home."

He stalked away before Jack had a chance to respond.

* * *

Ianto was just finishing cleaning the coffee machine when Jack's arms slid around his waist, and he felt Jack's chin come to rest lightly on his shoulder.

"What's wrong, Yan?"

"Nothing's wrong. Jack, please, I'd like to finish this so we can go."

"Not until you tell me what's bothering you. If we have a problem, I don't want to take it home with us. Talk to me, please?"

Ianto fell quiet. How could he explain something that he didn't fully understand himself?

"Is it Owen?" Jack pressed. "Are you really that much against having him here? Because if you are, I'll cut him loose first thing in the morning..."

Ianto turned swiftly, so that they were face to face.

"No, Jack. Don't do that. I admit, I don't like him particularly, but you're entitled to choose whoever you want to work here. After all, you are in charge."

Jack didn't look especially appeased.

"_We're_ in charge. Both of us, together!"

"Come and sit down," Ianto murmured. He ushered Jack over to the couch. "Now, listen to me. This is your command, Jack. You are the Director of Torchwood now. You're in charge."

"And you're second-in-command."

"Yes, but it should be your right to make final decisions. I appreciate that you want my input, but you don't need me to validate your choices. I may not like all the choices you make, but that doesn't mean they're the wrong ones. Tosh was right. I need to start trusting you to make your own decisions." He paused as a moment of revelation struck, and he looked at Jack in sad wonder. "I think I know what it is that's really bothering me, and it's not Owen. It's that you're making decisions on your own now – like with Owen – and it proves that you're becoming more independent. I think what's bothering me is that you just don't seem to need me as much anymore."

"That's not true!" Jack protested, and Ianto soothed him with a gentle kiss.

"Just hear me out, cariad. I'm not saying that I'm worried you'll decide to dump me. I know you won't do that. All I'm saying is that it wasn't all that long ago that you wouldn't do anything at all without my approval. This just shows how far you've come."

"Are you saying you miss that?" Jack wondered, and Ianto couldn't help but look sheepish.

"I suppose I do, just a little."

"Well... I'm not averse to a little role-playing..."

Ianto shut his eyes briefly. He knew full well what Jack was hinting at, and that was a path he had no intention of going down.

"Not a chance, Jack. That would just be too weird. No, I'm just trying to say that even though I do miss your reliance on me a bit, it's still a good thing that you've come into your own finally. I just have to learn to adjust."

"I might be making decisions on my own," Jack said carefully, "but I still need you. And what you think is important to me. I don't want to do things you don't like."

"That's inevitable. Just like it's inevitable that I'm bound to do things that you don't like. But that's all just a part of being a couple."

"Compromise?"

Ianto chuckled at the gleam that suddenly lit up Jack's eyes. Oh yes, he'd come a _long_ way since that day on the TARDIS when he'd asked for a kiss in exchange for wearing a suit and tie.

"Sometimes, yes. But sometimes I'm just going to have to be willing to accept the decisions you make."

"So... Does that mean you're okay with Owen staying?"

"Yes," Ianto conceded. "But I'm still going to have his head if he hurts Tosh."

Jack grinned and launched himself off the couch with fresh enthusiasm.

"Okay, then. Let's go home."

Ianto smiled ruefully as Jack bounded away to get their coats. He didn't need to be psychic to know that he wasn't going to get much sleep that night. He only hoped the followed day would be a quiet one.

* * *

_to be continued..._


	2. True Colours

"Oi, Teaboy!"

Ianto froze as he crossed the walkover between the greenhouse and the conference room. A quick scan of the Hub floor revealed the offending party to be sticking his scrawny head out of the autopsy bay and peering up at him with the very same look he'd given Brad the Weevil when Ianto had shown him the cells a week ago.

"Excuse me," Ianto said, attempting to retain his dignity in the face of such an insult. "If you're speaking to me, I have a name. Unless the formaldehyde has warped your brain…?"

Owen appeared unperturbed by the rebuke.

"I need coffee down here, now!"

"When I'm done with the artefacts on Tosh's desk," Ianto told him tersely. "I'm sure you can wait until then."

"No, the bloody artefacts can wait. _I_ can't."

Ianto could feel his jaw tightening in reaction to Owen's attitude. It had been like this all week. The only person in the Hub that he'd shown even a modicum of respect to was Toshiko. He'd taken to calling Jack 'Captain Innuendo', and Ianto seemed to have been awarded the nickname 'Teaboy'. It seemed that Owen was trying to make good on his promise to piss everyone off. It was certainly working where Ianto was concerned.

"Owen…"

"That's Dr Harper to you. Listen, you bloody Welsh upstart. You jump to and make coffee for Captain bloody America whenever he wants it. You can ruddy well do the same for me. Coffee. Black. Four sugars. Now!"

Owen's head vanished back inside the autopsy bay, putting a block on any further protests.

"_Teaboy_," Ianto fumed. "I'm going to kill him. He's not been with us a whole week, and I'm going to kill him."

He crossed to the coffee machine, and was just contemplating whether to salt to the beverage instead of sugar when his Bluetooth comm. buzzed to life in his ear.

"_Ianto, are you there?_"

A chill went through Ianto at the sound of Tosh's strained tones.

"I'm here, Tosh. What's wrong?"

"_I was just wondering, how much has Jack told Owen? About himself, I mean. Do you know?_"

The chill began to spread.

"Nothing, as far as I'm aware. Why? Tosh, what's happened?"

"_That Fyllian scout ship wasn't a scout ship, and it wasn't Fyllian. It was Clyreney, and they were on an illegal hunt._"

"Oh god," Ianto whispered. "Are you all right?"

"_Just cuts and bruises,_" she answered. "_I'm afraid Jack wasn't so lucky._"

A groan escaped Ianto's lips.

"No, he never is, is he? How bad is it?"

"_If Owen doesn't already know the truth about Jack, then I think he's about to find out. He's dying, Ianto, and I don't think there's anything we can do to stop it._"

"All right. Where are you? Do you need us to come and find you?"

"_No, it's all right. Well, it's not all right, but you know what I mean. We're coming down on the invisible lift right now._"

Ianto's gaze rose just in time to see the stone paving move, and begin its descent into the Hub.

"Is that el Capitan?" Owen shouted, emerging once more from the autopsy bay. "We'll see what he thinks about you depriving me of coffee."

"Will you forget the bloody coffee?" Ianto snapped as he hurried down to the Hub's floor level. Owen's face darkened into a deeper frown, but any objections he might have intended to make were cut short when Tosh and Jack came into sight.

"Fuck me!" Owen burst out. Jack, who was cradled in Tosh's arms, uttered a rasping laugh.

"Sorry… Not in the mood."

"Jack, hush," Tosh murmured. "Ianto…?"

Ianto had no chance to say or do anything and, for the first time, they finally got a look at Owen in professional doctor mode.

"Ianto, get your arse down to the med bay, and grab one of the oxygen masks and the portable stretcher," Owen ordered as he crouched down to get a closer look at Jack's many wounds. "And bring my black case from autopsy. Now!"

Unlike when Owen had demanded coffee only minutes ago, Ianto found himself obeying the issued orders without protest. Upon returning, he barely had time to deposit the bag on the floor before Owen had it open and was uncapping a new syringe, and quickly filling it from one of many small vials visible within the bag's confines.

He injected the contents into Jack's neck, while at the same time expertly slipping the oxygen mask over Jack's face with one hand.

"Easy, Captain," Owen murmured as the anaesthetic quickly took effect. "Try to relax."

"Owen, what are you doing?" Tosh asked cautiously. If Owen heard anything suspicious in her tone, he gave no indication of it.

"We need to get him down into autopsy before I can start treating him properly, but I will not even attempt to move him until I can provide him with some degree of pain relief."

Ianto met Toshiko's gaze, and smiled knowingly as she nodded wordlessly in approval. They both suspected that nothing could be done to save Jack from suffering another death, but Owen didn't yet know about his new boss's penchant for defying death and it encouraged them both that he was so willing to fight when, as a skilled doctor, he had to know how hopeless it was.

Ianto felt Jack's body relax slightly under his touch, and a quick glance told him that the medication was working.

"Okay, quickly now," Owen said grimly. "This is still going to hurt him, but it won't be as bad as it could have been."

Ianto complied and between them they managed to manoeuvre Jack onto the waiting stretcher. Sobs of pain, whimpers and moans flowed from Jack's lips, but the sounds were dulled, and Jack seemed to be growing less aware with every moment that slipped by.

They carried him down to autopsy and lifted him, stretcher and all, onto the table. There, they were all finally able to take full stock of Jack's injuries.

Jack's body had been pierced by not one, but four arrows. It appeared to Ianto that Jack had been caught in an ambush, judging from the varying angles and directions of each arrow.

Two arrows protruded from Jack's chest; one from his side, just above his right hip; and a fourth had gone clean through his left thigh. It was the arrow piercing his thigh that warned them that these were not ordinary arrows, and would not be easily extracted.

The arrow lodged in Jack's thigh was metal; light but strong, and impossible to break off. At each end there were long, sharp barbs that bent around and pointed inwards, making pushing it impossible to through. It was painfully clear to all of them that the arrows had been designed to do equally as much damage in the process of removing them, as they'd done in the original assault.

"Bloody hell," Owen whispered. "Tosh, what caused these burns?"

Ianto's attention was drawn from the cruel arrows, to Jack's face, and it was all he could do not to openly sob out loud at the sight. Whilst one side of Jack's face was unmarked, the other side had suffered burns unlike anything Ianto had ever seen before. Parts of the other man's skull and jawbone were visible, through the burned flesh. Right at that moment, Ianto thought with a churning stomach, Jack looked very much like Two-Face from the Batman comics.

He reached out tentatively, and touched his fingertips to the uninjured side of Jack's face.

"Cariad…"

"I know," Jack whispered in a barely audible voice. "Not so pretty anymore. Lucky it's not permanent."

"Hush, love," Ianto told him gently. "Owen…?"

He met Owen's gaze, and at that moment felt placated from the aggravation he'd experienced earlier. Owen had changed completely from brash and sarcastic to the epitome of concern and professionalism.

"Ianto, grab that cutter over there, quickly."

Again, Ianto found himself complying without protest. As he was handing the tool in question to Owen, though, Jack suddenly convulsed on the table and blood spilled from his mouth.

"Fuck!" Owen snarled as he grabbed a nearby stethoscope and listened quickly and intently to Jack's chest. "I'm guessing one of those arrows has gone through a lung. He's drowning in his own blood."

"Yan…" Jack croaked out. His voice sounded as though he was trying to speak underwater. Ianto grasped his hand firmly. He knew well enough what Jack was trying to tell him.

"Owen," he said softly, "you don't need to…"

Owen looked up at him with an expression that would have frozen lava.

"Don't you bloody tell me what I do or don't need to do. Unless you've got a medical qualification I wasn't aware of?"

Ianto clamped his jaw shut, and Owen nodded grimly.

"Didn't think so. Now, I've never quit on a patient before, and I'm not going to start now. So you just hold on, Jack. Do you hear me? Don't you _dare_ quit on me."

Again, Ianto exchanged looks with Toshiko, and the young Welshman knew he would be getting a hearty 'I told you so' from her later on. She was right, he knew. The only problem now was that in fighting to keep Jack alive, Owen was actually only prolonging the Captain's pain. Ianto just didn't know how to tell him that without having Owen think they were just giving up and letting Jack die, or without him thinking they were out of their minds.

Jack convulsed again, and a gurgling noise echoed up from within his chest and throat. Far from looking panicked, though, calm descended over him, and he reached out weakly to catch Owen's arm before he could start work on trying to remove the first of the arrows.

"D… Don't…"

"What?" Owen asked incredulously. Jack coughed, and more blood bubbled up out of his mouth.

"Just… wait…"

"Jack, I can't wait," Owen told him with a growing touch of desperation in his voice. "You're drowning in your own blood. If I wait, you're going to die!"

"S'okay," Jack whispered. "Really. Just… please… get 'em out 'fore I come back."

Owen looked from Toshiko to Ianto anxiously.

"What the hell is he talking about? Back from what?"

"Tell him," Jack whispered to Ianto. He coughed once more, explosively, spraying blood everywhere. His body shuddered once more, violently, and then finally fell still and silent.

As though in shock, no one moved or spoke. Then, abruptly, Owen swore and abandoned the metal cutter to grab a case that held defibrillation paddles.

"Owen…" Ianto said.

"Stand back," Owen ordered as he charged the paddles.

"Owen, you don't…"

"_I've _got the medical degree, remember?" Owen snarled as he tore away the remnants of Jack's shirt and placed the paddles on Jack's chest. "Now stand back!"

Ianto winced as Jack's body arched off the table as electricity surged through him. That was going to leave an unwanted ache when Jack resurrected.

Owen cursed again, colourfully, when he didn't get a pulse, and began to charge the paddles again.

"All right," Ianto said firmly. "Your tenacity is very comforting, but that's enough. All you're going to achieve now is to give him one hell of a pain in the chest when he comes back. Just stop."

The young doctor eyed Ianto like he'd grown a second head.

"Are you out of your fucking mind? He's _dead_, Ianto. If I can't revive him now, that's it. There'll be no coming back." He looked around at Toshiko for help and, possibly, an extra-strong sedative for the Welshman. "Tosh? Will you please help me out here?"

To Owen's frustration, Toshiko only smiled and patted his arm soothingly.

"It's all right, Owen. At least, it will be, but we don't have time to explain yet. We have to hurry and get these arrows out as fast as we can."

"You're bloody mad, both of you," Owen muttered as Ianto picked up the cutter and began to work on the removal of the arrows.

"We'll debate that later," Ianto told him. "Will you please just help us do this?"

Shaking his head, Owen conceded with reluctance.

* * *

The arrow that had pierced Jack's torso came out relatively easily, but the arrow in his thigh had gone clean through the bone, and it took force to get it out.

"That's going to leave a serious residual ache," Ianto remarked ruefully as the arrow was finally removed. Owen tossed the offending piece of metal into a nearby bin for secure disposal.

"All right. They're out. Now what?"

"Now we wait," Toshiko answered. Ianto hurried out of the autopsy bay, only to return a minute later with a bowl of water and several washcloths. He began to clean the blood from Jack's body with a tenderness that couldn't possibly be mistaken for anything but love.

"He hates waking up still covered in blood," Ianto explained to no one in particular. Owen looked from him to Toshiko, looking as though he would have liked to throttle the Welshman. Toshiko sighed softly.

"Owen, Jack is… different. He can't die."

Incredulity blossomed across Owen's face.

"Are you mad, or blind? Look at him! He _is_ dead!"

"Well, more accurately, he doesn't stay dead," she corrected herself. Owen stood still and quiet for nearly a minute, trying to process her words, and equate them with the scarily brilliant and beautiful young woman he was still getting to know.

"Let me get this straight. Are you trying to tell me that he's going to come back to life? Like Lazarus?"

Toshiko was starting to look just the tiniest bit nervous, as though she'd just realised how it sounded.

"Well… Yes. Now that we've removed the arrows. His body will heal, and he'll come back. It's happened before, Owen."

Owen shook his head again.

"I was wrong. You're not mad. You're bloody certifiable!"

Ianto sighed softly as he finished cleaning the blood from Jack's leg.

"Look at Jack's face."

Owen looked, and his eyes widened almost comically. Where half as Jack's face had been marred and disfigured by laser burns only minutes previously, the flesh was now unblemished in any way.

"How the fuck…?"

"I'll explain later," Ianto said, echoing Tosh's earlier words. "Can you help me get him into the med bay? I really don't want him to wake up on the autopsy table. His resurrections are traumatic enough as it is."

Still speechless at the sight of Jack's now unmarred face, Owen lifted Jack's legs off the autopsy table, and he and Ianto carried their Captain through into the med bay and depositing him on the nearest bed. He then stood back and watched as Ianto gently gathered Jack's limp body into his arms to await his resurrection.

"Tosh?" Ianto queried.

"Almost," she confirmed. Her gaze went to Owen, and she spoke tentatively. "Owen, there's something else that you need to know. When Jack comes back to life, he might seem a little less… mature than usual. He tends to regress a little, particularly if the death is a traumatic one."

Owen's eyebrows shot up. In his opinion, the whole situation was descending rapidly from the bizarre to the utterly ridiculous, but that statement struck him as particularly ludicrous.

"You're telling me that he suffers deaths that _aren't_ traumatic?"

"Fair point," Ianto conceded. "I don't have time to explain it all to you right now, Owen..."

"Yeah, so you keep saying."

Ianto grimaced.

"I promise I will explain it, but all I can tell you right now is that when Jack comes back to life, he more often than not regresses back to a child-like personality. So please, keep any nasty remarks to yourself, at least while you're where he can hear you."

"Hey, I may be a prat a lot of the time," Owen growled, "but I have never, _ever_ been cruel to someone suffering any sort of trauma, and I'm not about to start now."

"Good," Tosh said. "Now here's your chance to prove that, Owen. He's coming back."

Almost on cue, Jack resurrected with a strangled gasp, clutching instinctively at Ianto's arms.

"Yan," he whimpered, and Ianto tightened his hold on the older man.

"I've got you, cariad. You're okay. Do you hear me, love? You're fine."

"Hurts still," Jack choked out in between violent tremors.

"Where does it hurt, Jack?" Owen asked before Ianto had a chance to. His tone was gentle and soothing, a stark contrast to anything either Ianto or Tosh had previously heard from him.

"Everywhere. Leg... Chest... Back..."

"Where the arrows went in?"

"Uh huh."

"Well, they're all gone now. Just try to stay calm. What you're feeling is like an aftershock. It'll fade, I promise."

Jack answered with a whimper and clung to Ianto unashamedly, burying his face in Ianto's shirt. Gradually, though, his grip loosened and the tremors eased.

"How is it now?" Ianto asked.

"A little achy," Jack mumbled. "I'm tired, Yan."

"All right. Shut your eyes, then, and have a sleep. It's all right, Jack. You're safe, I've got you."

"Wait!" Jack burst out abruptly, panic flaring suddenly in his eyes. "Where's Tosh? Is she okay?"

Tosh hurried around into Jack's line of sight, and made no objections when he pulled her into his embrace.

"I'm fine, Jack. Really, I am. You saved me... again."

"You're worth saving," Jack mumbled, even as his hold on both her and Ianto slipped, and he began to drift off. "Do it again... anytime..."

"Well, that's a relief," Owen muttered as Jack slipped into a healing sleep. "I really didn't want to have to sedate him if I didn't need to."

Ianto looked around at Owen with a dark frown as he gently laid Jack down flat on the bed.

"Why, exactly, would you want to sedate him? If you think you're going to start running tests on him, I swear to God I'll retcon you back to your nappies."

"Shut it, you paranoid git," Owen told him dispassionately. "The only one I want to run tests on is _you_, for hearing impairment. I said, I _didn't_ want to sedate him. It was pretty bloody obvious that he needed rest after going through that. I just didn't want to have to sedate him to make sure that he'd get it!"

Ianto felt his face heat up as he realised Owen was right.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Owen. It's just, when it comes to Jack, I guess I tend to be a little over-protective."

"Yeah," Owen agreed dryly. "I did notice that. You ought to be careful, teaboy. You'll give him a complex. Assuming you haven't already, that is."

Ianto's expression shifted once more into a frown.

"Absolutely amazing that I could go from being grateful, to wanting to throttle you, and all in the space of a couple of minutes."

The smug grin on Owen's face had Ianto itching to get out the retcon.

"What can I say? It's a gift. Now, unless you have something else to say, I think I've earned the right to go out and get a drink."

He was out of the med-room before Ianto could even begin to formulate an argument.

"He's going to drive us all mad," Ianto said ruefully.

"Yes, but you have to admit, he's good at what he does," Tosh pointed out. "This whole incident could have been so much worse for Jack if Owen hadn't been here. Ianto, are you going to tell him the truth? About what happened to Jack, I mean."

"I don't know," Ianto admitted. "Personally, I'd rather not. At least, not at this stage, but I have a suspicion that he's going to find out sooner or later anyway. It's probably best that I tell him. Jack shouldn't have to keep on reliving it."

"It was hard enough when you both told me what happened," Tosh agreed.

Ianto shut his eyes for a moment, and tried to determine how they'd reached this point so quickly.

"Tosh, I need some fresh air. I'm sorry, but would you mind staying with Jack, just in case he wakes up?"

She answered him with a warm smile.

"Of course. Go on."

"Thankyou. I won't be long."

* * *

Rather than take the lift up to the Plass – it still had Jack's blood on it, and Ianto simply wasn't prepared to clean it yet. Instead, he took the long way up, via the stairs and the currently non-functional tourist office. He hoped that, given time, he might be able to turn what was at the moment just a front into a genuine office – if only to deflect curiosity. God knew they had enough tourists every day who tried to get in.

Opening the door that led out onto the boardwalk, Ianto stepped out into the sun and almost straight into a person standing on the other side of the door. Only a quick side-step avoided a direct collision, but he couldn't avoid contact completely.

"Careful, there!" the woman burst out as shoulders collided painfully. Ianto held his tongue, and swallowed his irritation at her instantly foisting the blame onto him. After all, had she not been the one who was foolishly standing right on the other side of a doorway?

Shaking off any remaining disorientation, he forced himself to focus on the stranger, and finally registered the uniform she wore. She was a police officer, he noted with the first hint of foreboding. Not a detective, it seemed, but a constable. Or, as Jack had so ineloquently taken to calling them, one of the local plods.

He didn't smile at her, or play pretend at being nice. He didn't feel like it, not in the aftermath of watching Jack suffer such a horrendous death, and equally painful resurrection. Right then, what he wanted more than anything to clear his head and get his thoughts in order before Jack woke up again. He wanted some privacy.

"Excuse me, Ma'am. Were you looking for something? Or someone? Because if you are, I sincerely doubt you're going to find them around here."

She looked taken aback, as though she wasn't used to people brushing her off, and Ianto caught a slight hardening in her expression. Female in what was traditionally a male's occupation, he mused. She clearly felt she had something to prove, and he supposed he couldn't blame her, but he had neither the time nor the inclination to pander to her.

"Who are you, exactly?" she asked.

"The name's Jones. Ianto Jones."

"Right, Mr Jones. Work here, do you?"

"Yep."

She looked sceptical, and didn't hesitate to voice that scepticism.

"Don't lie to me, Mr Jones. It's well known that this tourist office is never open."

"We're in the process of renovating," Ianto replied smoothly.

"Renovating?" came the mildly incredulous reply. "It doesn't look like it to me."

"It's been slow-going," Ianto answered passively. "Structural issues. Sorry, PC....?"

"Oh, sorry. PC Gwen Cooper."

Ianto forced himself to smile, hoping it didn't look as much like a grimace as he felt it did.

"Right then, PC Gwen Cooper. Was there something specific you wanted? Because I only have a short break before I have to go back to work."

It was painfully obvious that PC Gwen Cooper was not happy about being rushed but, to her credit, she only smiled at him in an admirable show of patience.

"I just have a few questions about an incident that happened out on the Plass about half an hour ago."

A slight chill went through Ianto. Half an hour ago, Jack and Tosh had arrived back on the Plass, but Ianto had not thought to ask how. He had a sickening suspicion that he was about to find out. Nonetheless, the amiable smile plastered onto his face never faltered.

"I'm sorry. I've been stuck inside since early this morning. What incident would that be?"

To Ianto's interest, the PC suddenly lost some of her brashness, and uncertainty crept into her eyes.

"Well, to be honest, it's nothing... _official_. I mean, no one even seemed to notice..."

Ianto raised an eyebrow, and resisted an urge to ask her just how long she'd been a PC for.

"If you could hurry along and get to the point, PC Cooper? As I said, I'm on limited time here."

"Right... Look, I was patrolling the Plass and these two people... a man and a woman... they just appeared out of nowhere. The bloke looked like he was pretty badly hurt. I was going to call for an ambulance but then they just disappeared, and nobody except me seems to have seen it! I was asking around because I hoped someone..."

She trailed off, taking in the expression on Ianto's face, and her own face promptly heated up.

"I suppose I sound a little bit mad, don't I?"

"Just a little bit," Ianto answered with what he hoped was a sympathetic smile. He desperately wanted to get rid of this woman while she was still at the stage of questioning her own sanity. It seemed his gentle agreement was enough to tip the proverbial scales, and with a muttered apology for wasting his time, PC Gwen Cooper hurried away as quickly as her dignity would allow.

"Bloody hell," Ianto muttered, once the woman was gone. He knew what it was that she had seen... or hadn't seen, as the case may have been.

Jack and Tosh's sudden appearance on the Plass meant they'd arrived via Jack's vortex manipulator, and their equally abrupt disappearance had to be them making it onto the step that was shielded by the perception filter. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know what had happened to the SUV, but he suspected he'd find out before too long.

What it all pointed to was Jack and Tosh having to flee fairly quickly, meaning the responsible aliens were still on Earth. Ianto sucked in a long, hissing breath as he walked a short way along the boardwalk. It was not good, and it would be even worse once the Clyreney hunting party learnt of Jack's inability to stay dead. Someone like the Captain would truly be a prize catch, to take with them back to their home world where he could be hunted again, and again.

Ianto slowed to a halt, and had to make a conscious effort to stop gritting his teeth as anger spread through him at the thought of Jack being abused in such a way. There was only one solution, and that was for him to deal with the aliens before they found out the truth about Jack.

"Do you make a habit of standing around, staring into space?"

The abrasive voice cut into his train of thought, and he came back to reality to find Owen staring at him.

"I thought you were getting a drink?" Ianto muttered, and Owen answered with a shrug.

"Guess it was a little early after all. Seriously, though, mate. I've been watching you for nearly ten minutes now. You just stood there staring into space. I'm starting to wonder what sort of loony bin I've walked into."

"Would you rather be back in London, working A&E?" Ianto asked tersely as he began to walk again.

"Good point," Owen frowned a little as he realised Ianto was not actually head back in the direction of the tourist office entrance. "Where are we going?"

"To get my car."

"Why?"

"We're going to deal with the Clyreney. Right now, they think Jack is dead. If we don't act now, it won't be long before they find out that he's not. They'll want to know why."

"And that's important because...?"

"The Clyreney are born hunters, Owen. They pride themselves on being the best in the universe."

"You mean, like that Arnold Schwarzenegger movie? Predator?"

Ianto spared him a wry glance.

"Where do you think the idea for the alien came from?"

"Fuck..."

"Exactly."

Ianto watched out of the corner of his eye as Owen frowned, visibly chewing it all over in his mind. He led the way into the Torchwood garage, and was well into sorting out weapons before the young doctor spoke again.

"Jack would be like some ultimate catch then, wouldn't he? Because he'll just keep coming back to life?"

"Right," Ianto confirmed. He closed the boot firmly and indicated to Owen to get in. "So we either have to get them off the planet and send them on their way before they find out, or we're going to have to kill every one of them." He paused as he climbed in behind the wheel. "It's just us, Owen. Tosh needs to stay here, and try to keep Jack from coming after us."

"Plus, she's already faced them once," Owen added with growing determination. "I don't care to let those bastards have another shot at her. All right, tea boy. Just us, then."

Ianto smiled with relief and didn't bother arguing with Owen's use that much loathed nickname.

"Thankyou."

"I'll make a deal with you, though," Owen added, sending a twinge of apprehension through Ianto.

"What sort of deal?"

"I come with you, and we deal with these alien scumbags together, but you have to tell me the whole truth."

"The _whole_ truth?"

"That's right. There's something about El Capitan that you're not telling me, and I want to know what it is. Like, what's with the personality regression? Well? Do we have a deal?"

Ianto nodded slowly, hoping quietly that Jack wouldn't be angry with him for telling the story ahead of time.

"Yes, Owen. We have a deal. It's a forty minute drive to the location. I'll give you the abridged version."

Owen grimaced as he settled back in the seat.

"Great. Let's get moving, then."

* * *

_to be continued...._


	3. Under Fire

To say that Toshiko had been unhappy about their plan was a gross understatement. Fortunately for Ianto and Owen, her proximity to the still sleeping Captain had prevented her from saying everything she wanted to say, as loudly as she wanted to say it. They were both immensely grateful for that, but at the same time dreaded what would happen when she finally had a chance to really rip into them.

Owen advised her on the right sedative to use, should Jack wake up and become distressed or, alternatively, try to come after them. Ianto then advised her on where to find the phone number to reach the Doctor, if things went badly.

She was markedly unhappy with both pieces of advice, and her tone promised serious retribution when they came home. When, she'd emphasised. Not if.

Then they were finally on their way to the location on the outskirts of Cardiff, where Jack and Toshiko had had their disastrous encounter.

Owen sat in silence as they drove, listening intently while Ianto gave him a heavily edited rendition of Jack's time as a prisoner of Torchwood. The doctor's face was hard to read as Ianto told him the basics, and Ianto found it better not to speculate on what the other man was thinking. Truth be told, he hadn't intended on Owen hearing about Jack's imprisonment so soon, but circumstances dictated once more.

Besides, Owen had dealt with Jack earlier with a professionalism and compassion that Ianto honestly had not expected of him, and he'd agreed to come with him to deal with the Clyreney hunters without an argument. Or rather, without much of an argument, Ianto amended his thoughts wryly. And now, he seemed to be accepting was he was hearing without any real trouble.

Ianto quietly wondered whether the other man was in some degree of mental shock, and if the denial would come later.

"A hundred and six years," Owen said finally when Ianto finished telling the heavily abridged tale. "Torchwood held him prisoner for a hundred and six years, and now he's running the show. There's karma for you."

"You believe me?" Ianto asked. He wasn't quite able to keep the incredulity out of his voice. Owen looked at him like he was mad.

"After everything I've already seen today, why the hell wouldn't I? Bloody hell, Jones. Look, we'll talk more about this later. Right now, we need to work out what we're going to do. After all, it's just the two of us against how many aliens...?"

"At least four," Ianto murmured, recalling what little Tosh had been able to remember. "More likely six."

"So what's the plan?" Owen wondered. They'd pulled up a few hundred metres short of a warehouse where the strongest readings from their equipment were coming from. Ianto had not wanted to get too close in the car, in order to try and avoid advertising their arrival. "Do we go in waving a white flag?"

"No. They'll take that as an automatic sign of surrender."

"Which it is," Owen pointed out. Ianto rolled his eyes.

"And in which case, they'll kill us without hesitating."

"But in the movies, didn't the Predators leave alone anyone with no weapon? Did see them as a threat, or a challenge, right?"

"Owen, only the concept of the Predator movies was based on the Clyreney. Believe me when I say these buggers don't give a damn whether you have a weapon or not. If you breathe, they'll kill you. No, we go in there fully loaded. Tosh, are you still there?"

There was nothing but static, though, and Ianto cursed softly.

"Must be interference from whatever weaponry and technology the Clyreney have with them. Owen, you can still hear me through the comm., can't you?"

"Yeah, I can hear you. Localised communication seems to still be intact. Just anything further afield is out. Which means that Tosh won't know what's going on, and if Jack wakes up she'll probably have to sedate him to stop him from coming after us."

Ianto shook his head.

"I don't think Jack will wake up any time soon..."

"You're hopeful," Owen snorted. Ianto glared at him.

"I know him, Owen. It was a bad death. He lost a lot of blood, and there was a lot of physical damage for his body to recover from. He'll sleep for a few hours at least, to recover his strength. With a bit of luck, we'll get this sorted and be back at the Hub before we wakes up and realises what we've done."

Owen shook his head.

"Whatever you say, mate. Just as long as you realise that there won't be any negotiation. From what Tosh told us, and what you've said, we're going to have to go in guns blazing."

"Oh, there'll be a negotiation," Ianto assured him grimly. "Just not necessarily in the way you might be thinking. Look, Owen, we don't have the time to go over the finer points. Just follow my lead, but be ready for the situation to turn nasty. Now, listen closely. This is what we're going to do..."

* * *

Owen listened, though the look on his face suggested he was less than impressed with Ianto's plan. He primed one of the guns he held, ensuring that it was functioning properly.

"I'd like to point out right now that I think you're mad, and if this goes belly-up, I'm blaming you. Are you really sure this is how you want to do this?"

"I'm sure, Owen. Just do as I've told you, and be ready."

Owen sighed and conceded.

"All right, Tea boy. Lead the way, mate."

* * *

The warehouse appeared deserted, at a glance. Ianto knew full well that had he not been expecting an ambush, then he would have walked straight to his own death. As it was, though, he had spent much time in the TARDIS' library and one of the many alien races he had read about was the Clyreney. Subsequently, he knew of their passion for the hunt, and he knew of their utter ruthlessness and cold-hearted cruelty. What he also knew, though, was that one of the few things they held sacred was the bond between mates.

As he walked into the warehouse, acutely aware that there were multiple weapons trained on him, Ianto hoped and prayed that the Clyreney could be made to recognise his bond with Jack. He prayed he would be able to keep his voice from breaking, or from showing any other sign of weakness.

"Come out and face me, cowards!" Ianto thundered.

Over the open, but seriously static-riddled channel of the Bluetooth comms, Ianto hears Owen uttered a half-stifled noise of surprise at Ianto's bold challenge. To the doctor's credit, though, he held his tongue and made no attempt to ask if Ianto was out of his mind.

"You murdered my mate," Ianto went on fiercely. "I demand the right to have my revenge. You will show yourselves!"

For several long seconds, Ianto's words went unanswered. Then, slowly, enormous aliens of reptilian appearance began to emerge.

"Bloody hell, they really do look like the Predators," Owen's voice hissed in his ear, through the comm. Ianto didn't so much as blink at the comment, despite a sudden clutch of fear in his gut. He'd known what to expect, but the truth was that nothing could have prepared him for what he was looking at now. He stood tall, though, and didn't flinch away. To do so, to break eye contact at that crucial stage would have been seen as weakness, and weakness in any form was not tolerated by these proud and cruel aliens.

The tallest and bulkiest of the Clyreney came forward. It held a crossbow – or rather, what looked to Ianto like a crossbow – that was loaded with one of those lethal arrows that Jack had been pierced by. When it spoke, though, the voice was almost human in quality, and Ianto had to struggle not to be distracted by the silky smooth tones.

"The female survived."

"I am not mated to the female," Ianto stated. "I was mated to the male that you killed, and I demand the right of vengeance. You are required by the Shadow Proclamation, and your own laws, to comply."

Harsh laughter filled the air, sending unpleasant chills down Ianto's spine.

"You think we care for our own laws? Or for the Shadow Proclamation? We would not be here if we did."

"Then you acknowledge that you know this is a class five planet, and that you shouldn't be here," Ianto countered. "I'll give you an ultimatum. Either give me the right of revenge for the death of my mate, as demanded by your laws, or leave this world and never return, as demanded by the Shadow Proclamation. What is your decision?"

"You have courage in challenging us, human. We honour that courage by offering you a quick and painless death."

"You refuse to comply?" Ianto asked. The alien's mouth stretched wide in what Ianto supposed was meant to be a grin.

"We refuse."

He then lifted his crossbow, and aimed it directly at Ianto's head.

"Owen, now!" Ianto bellowed.

The barrage of laser fire came quickly enough that the seasoned hunters were caught off-guard just long enough for Ianto to dive out of the way and take cover behind a pile of heavy crates.

The last time that Ianto recalled experiencing the sort of hell that erupted around him, he'd been back in Canary Wharf, surrounded by Daleks, Cybermen and Yvonne Hartman's insane underlings. Even then, though, he'd managed to avoid being directly involved in the carnage. Here and now, he was right in the middle of it, and it didn't please him at all.

After taking just a few precious seconds to gain his bearings, Ianto abandoned his temporary shelter, and charged back out into the open with guns firing from both hands. It was a dangerous and daring play – one that Ianto knew would get his arse very thoroughly kicked by Jack, _if_ he survived. It also seemed to be the last thing the hunters expected, to have this scrawny (in their eyes) human weakling launch an open assault on them.

Not for the first time, Ianto was quietly grateful for the many hours that Jack had insisted on him spending in the target range at the Hub. His aim was true and, as he broke cover, he took the first Clyreney down with a single bullet to the head. A second hunter bellowed in anger and lifted his crossbow, and it was at that point that Owen's random cover fire took on a deadly accuracy of its own.

The second Clyreney went down, felled by a combination of fire power from both Ianto and Owen.

At that point, less than half a minutes had passed, and the remaining Clyreney finally seemed to be pulling themselves together. Knowing that he had to end it quickly, or risk losing the slim advantage that he'd managed to gain. With that thought at the forefront of his mind, Ianto ceased running.

He turned on an angle at that gave him the best possible view of all the remaining Clyreney. Dropping to one knee to avoid an arrow that subsequently skimmed just over his head, Ianto fired off a rapid succession of shots.

He fired his weapons with precision, desperate to end it before the tide turned completely against him. In the chaos, arrows went wild around him, punctuated by odd bursts of laser fire. As he turned his guns fully on the last standing alien, though, his luck finally ran out.

There was no mistaking the agonising burn of laser fire through his side, and in the precious few seconds it took him to recover from the shock, an arrow finally found its target and cut through his thigh like a hot knife through butter.

Ianto vividly recalled being shot once before, and how the adrenalin had kept him from realising immediately. This was nothing like that. The pain was immediate, and crippling, and Ianto collapsed heavily to the concrete floor in agony. As his mind struggled to come to terms with the unbelievable hurt, he became aware of the hunter approaching steadily with crossbow at the ready. He saw the crossbow come up until the point of the arrow came level with his head, and in that moment all he could think of was Jack, and how Jack would cope in the wake of his death.

He tried to move in a last-ditch effort to escape, but an enormous, metal-clad foot planted squarely on his chest with rib-crushing force put an end to any resistance.

"We honour you, worthy enemy," the alien hissed, and took aim once more.

A final burst of gunfire shattered the silence, and Ianto grunted as the hunter collapsed on top of him, driving all the air from his lungs.

"Owen," Ianto said, or tried to say. The other man's name came out as a barely audible wheeze as he fought for precious oxygen, and struggled not to be overwhelmed by the pain. "Owen..."

"Hang on, tea boy. I'll be down there in thirty seconds."

Owen's voice came to him not through the comm. device, but shouted to him from what sounded to him like a great height. Right at that instant, Ianto felt that he'd rarely heard a more welcoming sound. He had no idea how long Owen actually took to reach him. He existed in a haze of pain, crushed into the concrete floor by the weight of the dead alien, and his only clear thought was that now he knew how Jack felt each time he suffered a critical injury.

Then, the alien was gone from on top of him, and warm human hands began to tear his shirt open.

"Don't..." Ianto mumbled, trying pointlessly to swat Owen's hands away. "'s silk..."

"Mate, it's already trashed. Got a hole in it the size of Jack's ego. Now shut it, and let me do my job."

He finished ripping the shirt open, and swore softly at the sight of the damage. Ianto's flesh looked like someone had taken to it with a blowtorch. It was horribly burned and blistered, and Owen knew at a glance that if Ianto survived, he was going to need skin grafts for months to come – maybe even years – before he was fully recovered. Then, he came to the leg wound.

For just a few crucial moments, Owen went blank as he took in the extensive damage. He needed no x-ray or scan to know the grim truth. _If_ Ianto somehow managed to survive the trip back into Cardiff, he was going to lose his leg.

He snapped back to reality to find Ianto staring up at him with blood-shot eyes that were filled with pain.

"Owen... Tell Jack I'm sorry... and that I love him..."

And suddenly, Owen looked angry. No, Ianto reflected dimly. He didn't look angry, he looked seriously pissed.

Taking the remnants of Ianto's shirt, Owen quickly tore it into strips and bandaged them tightly around the gaping tear in Ianto's thigh. Ianto screamed in pain, only to be told by a very unsympathetic Owen to suck it up.

"What... What the fuck are you doing...?" Ianto gasped as Owen began to drag him out of the warehouse.

"Getting you the fuck out of here. What does it look like? Then I'm going to call Tosh, and get her to wake up Captain Sunshine. They got back to the Hub from here without a car, somehow, so he can bloody well do the same for us, so just shut up and hang on."

Ianto shuddered as Owen pulled him out into the sunshine, and then left him lying there in a daze. Seconds, minutes, hours passed. Ianto didn't know how long it was. He no longer had any sense of the passage of time. Everything was blurring into one incomprehensible mess as he felt his life blood slowly ebbing away from him. It wasn't until he became aware of himself being dragged along the ground once more that he came back to some semblance of comprehension.

"Owen... What...?"

"Can't get through to Tosh," Owen said grimly. "I reckon those buggers fried our comms when the fight started. Gonna have to get you back to Cardiff myself."

"Owen... I don't think I'm going to..."

"No!" Owen burst out, silencing Ianto. "You shut the fuck up, you bloody jumped-up sheep shagger. I agreed to autopsy aliens. Not my ruddy teammates. And if you think I'm going to take your dead body back to Harkness, then you've got another thing coming. I did not come all the way to bloody Cardiff just to be shot by my poncy boss, because I let the bloody tea boy get skewered by a fucking alien!"

By the time Owen had ceased his rant, they had made it to the car, and Ianto found himself unceremoniously dumped on the backseat.

"I should be keeping pressure on that leg wound," Owen said grimly as he climbed in behind the wheel. "But I can't do that and drive. So I'll make you a deal. I'll drive like a bloody demon and get you to hospital, and you don't die on the way there. Okay?"

Ianto could only groan in reply. Owen nodded.

"I'll take that as a yes."

He floored the accelerator, and began to agonizingly long trip back into Cardiff.

* * *

The journey back to Cardiff was punctuated with groans, whimpers and sobs. In any other circumstance, Owen would have cheerfully gagged the offending individual, but not this time. This time, he welcomed any and all noises made by Ianto, because it meant he was still alive.

He drove like a maniac, and had at least three near-misses as he went straight through one intersection after another. Frankly, he was surprised that the police hadn't yet attempted to pull them over. Surprised, but also grateful. The last thing he needed was to have the local plods chasing them. Jack was going to kill them as it was, without introducing the added complication of having to retcon some poor, inept PC.

They were only a couple of minutes away from Cardiff General when Owen realised that the sounds coming from the backseat had stopped, and all was quiet.

"Ianto? Ianto! Bloody hell… Tea boy, are you still with me? Goddamn it, Ianto! Don't you dare give up on me now!"

"Stop yelling, Owen. I'm still here. I'm okay."

Owen faltered. Ianto sounded markedly different to earlier. He no longer sounded injured and weak, but rather more… well, _normal_. He risked a glance back over his shoulder.

Ianto still lay on the backseat, and he was still soaked in his own blood, but the visible signs of pain were gone from his face. Instead, he just looked confused and perhaps a little bit frightened.

"Owen, pull over."

"What? But we're nearly there!"

"I think I'm okay. Please, just pull over."

With extreme reluctance, Owen did as requested. He then twisted around in the driver's seat to look at the younger man.

"You should be just about dead."

Without speaking, Ianto reached around with trembling hands, and carefully peeled away the makeshift bandages from his wounded leg.

"Fuck me," Owen whispered in disbelief.

Where only a short while ago there had been a gaping wound, now there was just red, raw flesh that was newly scabbed over.

Ianto was speechless. He had no explanation for how he'd managed to go from having a life-threatening injury, to be being more than halfway healed. Owen, however, had no compunctions about offering a suggestion.

"Bloody hell, you're like him, aren't you? You're like Harkness!"

For an instant, Ianto wondered whether Owen was right, only to just as swiftly dismiss the idea. He was not like Jack. That could only have happened on the TARDIS, and the Doctor would have known.

"No," he said softly, with surety. "No, that's not it. I'm not like Jack."

"No?" Owen retorted. "Because I'm seeing one of two significant similarities, mate."

Ianto shook his head. Wincing a little, he sat up and peeled back the gauze that Owen had quickly taped to his side. The laser burns were still there, but they too were well on their way to healing, and Ianto could feel the flesh repairing itself. It was a stunning, if slightly nauseating sight and sensation.

"Okay," Owen said finally. "Don't misunderstand me, please. I'm absolutely ecstatic that you're going to live. Means I won't have to make my own coffee. But seriously, Ianto, what the fuck is going on here? First I see Harkness come back to life after being dead for nearly twenty minutes, and now there's you! Indestructible Boy, in the flesh!"

Ianto scowled, and not just at the nickname. Although his injuries appeared to be healing rapidly, it still hurt like hell to move.

"Don't call me that, Owen. I'm not like Jack. I'm not indestructible."

"Are you positive about that?" Owen wondered as he leant in for a closer look at the fast-healing burns. He estimated that at the rate the burns were healing, within another fifteen minutes or so it would be as though Ianto had never been wounded… which was going to make the excessive blood and destruction of his clothing damned hard to explain. "Haven't had any other especially close calls lately? Any near-misses…?"

And abruptly, Ianto remembered standing in the ensuite of his and Jack's room in the TARDIS, holding a ruined shirt in one hand, and a bullet in the other. His hand strayed to his other side and brushed over the unblemished flesh as it slowly occurred to him that maybe the bullet had not missed after all.

"What are you thinking?" Owen asked suspiciously. Ianto grunted softly with pain as he sat up all the way.

"I honestly don't know what's happening. I wish I did, but I don't."

Owen stared hard at Ianto, as though he was trying to decide whether or not to believe him, and Ianto could feel himself wilting under that scrutinizing gaze.

"There's something else, isn't there?" Owen pressed. "C'mon, Tea boy. 'Fess up, or I'll tell Jack everything when we get back. I'm assuming you don't want him knowing how close a shave you really had."

"Manipulative bastard," Ianto grumbled. "Fine. I think I might have been shot not too long ago. There was an… incident with a UNIT chief. He killed Jack, and he tried to kill me. I thought he'd missed, but now… I'm not so sure."

"And you're positive that you're not the same as Harkness? That what it is that he's got can't be transmitted?"

Ianto's temper flared, and he responded angrily.

"Bloody hell, Owen, will you stop talking like he's got some STD? He's not sick, he's not wrong. He's just…"

"Unique," Owen inserted. "I get it. And for the record, I never used the word 'wrong'. Look, Ianto, I'm not so sure that it's a good idea to keep this from him. He's bound to find out sooner or later… one way or another. Don't you think it'd be better if he found out from you directly?"

Anxiety filled Ianto's face.

"No, not yet. I don't want to panic him, Owen. He's come so far, but he still gets frightened so easily."

Owen stared piercingly at Ianto before uttering a self-satisfied grunt.

"I knew it. You _are _shagging him, aren't you?"

Ianto shook his head in exasperation and, rather than replying immediately, took a moment to prod gingerly at his side. The pain had faded away to a dull ache, leaving him feeling more like he'd take a swift punch to the kidneys rather than a direct blast of laser fire. He wondered briefly if this was anything like what Jack experienced after each resurrection.

"Yes," he answered finally. "We are in a relationship. Yes, we have sex regularly, not that it's any of your business."

"It will be if you make yourselves sick."

Ianto shook his head again. Owen was proving himself to be a reliable colleague and a damned good doctor, but neither of those qualities was doing anything to dull Ianto's desire to smack him over the head.

"We're clean and we're exclusive. We're also careful. Now, can we please just talk about this later? I would really like to get home and change before Jack wakes up and starts to panic and think that something is wrong… if he hasn't already."

Despite visible scepticism, Owen conceded and got back into the driver's seat.

"Right. Because absolutely nothing is wrong at all. Meanwhile, do me a favour and check to see if my mobile phone has a signal yet. The comms are still offline, and Tosh is probably going spare."

Cursing softly, Ianto moved into the front passenger seat and took the device from Owen.

"Why didn't you try it?"

"I did, before we left the warehouse. There was no signal at all, and yours was fried in your pocket from the laser blast you took. After that, I'm afraid I was a little preoccupied with trying to get us back to Cardiff as fast as possible before you bled out. I didn't have time to pull over every few minutes and check my bloody phone. Castrate me later, okay?"

Ianto rolled his eyes, and checked the phone. He felt equal parts relief and dread to see it was working again and, with reluctance, called Toshiko. She was predictably less than impressed.

"Ianto? Where the hell are you two? Jack woke up, and when you weren't here and I couldn't explain where you were, he went berserk! I had to sedate him to stop him from going after you both!"

"We're sorry, Tosh," Ianto apologised. "We lost our comms, and our phones had no signals, but we're okay." He glanced down guiltily at his side and his leg as he spoke. He burns had healed completely, and his leg was almost healed. In all honesty, it was a little creepy to watch. "We just decided the best thing was to get back here as fast as possible."

"You're back in Cardiff?"

"Yes. I'm just going to have Owen take me home to get some clean clothes. Mine were a little worse for wear by the time we sorted the problem."

Beside him, Owen snorted but otherwise kept quiet.

"But you are both all right, aren't you?" Tosh asked anxiously. "I mean, you're really all right?"

"We're fine, really," Ianto promised. He pointedly ignored the look Owen was giving him. "Hopefully we'll be back before Jack wakes up again, but if we're not… Just tell him we're okay, and we're on our way back."

"You owe me, Ianto."

"Yes," Ianto agreed ruefully. "I know I do."

* * *

_to be continued..._


	4. Facing The Music

It took them another twenty-five minutes to get back to the Hub, but which time Ianto had changed his clothes and disposed of the ruined suit. When they finally walked back through the cog door, it was to find not only Toshiko waiting for them, but Jack as well.

Ianto's stomach churned. He didn't think he'd seen Jack looking so angry since their final confrontation with Fischer. He opened his mouth to speak – although Lord only knew what he was going to say – but Jack cut him off short.

"Don't," Jack snapped, glaring furiously at Ianto. "Don't you say a word, Ianto. Don't you dare. Nothing you say could possibly excuse you doing such a bloody stupid, reckless thing!" He shook his head violently, struggling to find adequate words. "I don't get it. How could you… How could either of you be so dumb? You saw what they did to me, and yet you went and put yourselves at risk! Tell me, please, _why_? Why would you take such a stupid chance?"

"For you," Ianto said softly, simply. Jack stared at him incredulously.

"You could have been killed, Ianto. How would that have done me any good?"

"They were Clyreney, Jack, and they had no regard for the Shadow Proclamation. They just laughed when I brought it up. Now you tell me, what do you think they would have done with you if they'd found out that you're immortal?"

Jack paled a little as a number of possibilities occurred to him, each one less pleasant than the other.

"Exactly," Ianto confirmed. "We weren't trying to be gung-ho. We just wanted to protect you, and I will not apologise for that."

Jack swallowed convulsively as his mind warred with his emotions, and finally his expression hardened and he pointed threateningly from Ianto to Owen.

"If either of you ever takes a risk like that again," he told them in a low, angry voice, "and I'll suspend you for a month."

He stalked away back to his office without giving either Ianto or Owen a chance to reply.

"Testy bastard," Owen grumbled sourly. "Could've at least said thankyou."

Tosh rounded on him, angry and incredulous.

"For what? Nearly getting yourselves killed?"

"Tosh…" Ianto started to say, but she cut him off short.

"No, Ianto. I'm with Jack on this. You did a really stupid thing, and I'm betting you had a lot closer call than you're admitting to."

Discomfort flickered across Ianto's face, and his hands went down to his hips in an instinctive defensive pose.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Tosh's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You changed your suit, Ianto. There was no reason for you to do that before coming back here unless there was something you didn't want Jack to see. I know you always keep a spare suit here for emergencies."

For just a moment, Ianto did a magnificent impression of a guppy fish. By the time he'd recovered his composure, it was too late. The look on Tosh's face told both men that she knew at least the basics of what had happened.

"Your comms weren't receiving at your end," she told them in a low voice, "but they were still transmitting up until about twenty minutes before you called me on Owen's phone, even though it was fairly patchy reception at this end." She turned her piercing stare onto Ianto. "You were badly hurt. Don't deny it, Ianto. I heard Owen talking to you, trying to keep you conscious. How bad was it?"

Ianto said nothing, and so she turned her focus onto Owen, who cringed under the sudden scrutiny.

"How bad was it? I want the truth, Owen. I lied to Jack for both of you, and stopped him from chasing after you, so don't you dare lie to me. Now, how bad was it?"

With an apologetic shrug in Ianto's direction, Owen answered Tosh meekly.

"He had a laser burn across his stomach and side, and one of those bloody arrows tore his leg open, clean through to the bone. So yeah. It was bad."

"But you aren't even limping," Tosh said in confusion. Reaching out, she pulled Ianto's shirt up out of his trousers and lifted it to examine the pale, unblemished flesh beneath. She was just touching her fingertips to his stomach when Ianto let out an embarrassed cough.

"You know, if Jack sees us now, he's either going to be incredibly jealous or seriously pissed that he wasn't invited to join us."

Tosh yanked her hand back as though she'd been burned, and a bright red flush spread quickly over her face.

"I'm fine, really," Ianto went on quietly as he tucked his shirt back in. "I don't understand how, but I _am_ okay. Let's just leave it at that."

Owen shot him a look at that, and Ianto carefully ignored him.

"I'm going to go and talk to Jack. Why don't the two of you go and get lunch? Take your time."

"All right," Tosh conceded, although she didn't look the least bit satisfied. "We'll bring something back for you and Jack."

Ianto nodded in acquiescence.

"Thanks. Oh, by the way. Be careful when you leave. There was a local PC snooping around the tourist entrance earlier. She saw you and Jack when you arrived back in the Plass, Tosh."

"Bugger," Tosh muttered. "We _were_ aiming for inside the Hub, but Jack wouldn't let me touch it, and he was already injured…"

"It's all right," Ianto reassured her. "Just keep an eye out when you come and go, at least for the time being."

"Hang on," Owen growled as he and Tosh turned towards the cog door. "Jack wouldn't let you touch _what_, exactly?"

Ianto smirked to himself, and as he headed for Jack's office, the last thing he heard as Tosh and Owen exited the Hub was Tosh explaining to Owen about Jack's vortex manipulator.

* * *

Ianto entered Jack's office cautiously, and wasn't sure whether or not to be surprised that Jack wasn't at his desk. Then, he noticed two things. The hatch leading to the bunker beneath Jack's office was open, and the toy dog was gone from his desk. Sighing, Ianto stepped over to the open hatchway and looked in. Sure enough, Jack was there. He lay on the makeshift bed at the bottom, curled up with his face buried in a small, thin pillow.

When they'd first taken control of the Hub, Jack had decided to turn the bunker into something useful, and had gotten Ianto to buy a bed to set up down there. For sleeping and fucking, Jack had declared shamelessly. Ianto might have been less bothered by the statement, had it not been made in the middle of Ianto's preferred choice of bedding store.

A bed had eventually been found to suit the bunker, but it had proven to be a white elephant. Jack had used it just once, and had ended up having a massive panic attack that was triggered by the confined space.

It surprised Ianto, therefore, that Jack was down there now. He climbed down, taking care not to step on anything sensitive, and sat awkwardly on the edge of the narrow bed.

If he hadn't known any better, he might have thought that Jack was asleep. His practised eye, however, caught the tiniest telltale tremors through Jack's body. In that moment, it occurred to Ianto just how badly he had frightened Jack, and his heart broke for his Captain.

"Jack, I'm sorry. I really didn't intend to scare you like this. I just wanted to deal with the aliens before they found out about you."

He stroked his hand gently over Jack's arm, and was grateful and relieved when Jack didn't try to pull away from him.

"When I woke up," Jack said in a stuttered whisper, "and Tosh said you and Owen were gone… She wouldn't tell me where, but I knew. I knew where you'd gone, and then she said your comms were down, and I thought…"

He rolled over abruptly, nearly sending Ianto sprawling.

"Sorry," he mumbled. Ianto smiled fondly, silently noting that Jack's toy dog was, indeed, clutched in his hands.

"You have no reason to be sorry. Now, what were you going to say?"

"I thought you were dead," Jack admitted miserably. "Tosh wouldn't tell me anything, and I thought it was because you were dead. And then I started thinking about how I was going to cope without you and I… I couldn't. I couldn't think about it. I got scared. I got so scared…"

Ianto kicked his shoes off and lay down next to Jack, allowing his lover to wrap him up in a huge bear hug.

"I am so sorry that you had to think that, even for a second, but I'm okay. I really am. See for yourself."

In the next instant, Ianto grunted as Jack twisted around lithely so that he was crouching over the top of him, with an almost predatory look on his face. Hands began to move feverishly over Ianto's body, systematically removing one article of clothing after another until the Welshman was naked.

There was no groping or grabbing, though, despite the sense of urgency that Jack was displaying, and Ianto had to bite his lip to keep from moaning in pleasure when Jack's hands felt anxiously below his waist for potential hidden wounds.

Right at that moment, there was nothing sexual in Jack's touches, and the last thing Ianto wanted to do was to cheapen Jack's concern by sexualising the situation.

"Satisfied?" Ianto asked, possibly more breathlessly than he would have preferred, when Jack's hands finally stilled. Jack leaned back a little, still frowning.

"No. What happened to your suit?" He pointed accusingly to the suit that had been abandoned to the floor. "That's a different suit to the one you had on this morning. If you weren't hurt, then why did you change your suit?"

For a split second, Ianto's brain stuttered. He'd deliberately put on a suit that was as close as possible in appearance to the ruined one. He hadn't been surprised that Tosh had noticed he was wearing a different suit, but he honestly hadn't expected Jack to be so observant – not when he was probably still suffering the lingering after-effects of his latest traumatic death.

In the brief instant that it took Ianto's mind to process Jack's words and come up with an adequate response, Jack's suspicions returned with a vengeance.

"Ianto? What happened to your suit?"

"It had blood on it," Ianto admitted, deciding to stick to half truths. "A _lot_ of blood. It all belonged to the aliens, but it didn't matter. The suit was ruined. I wanted to get cleaned up and changed as quickly as possible, and we were closer to home than the Hub… I suppose that in the end I just wanted to save you from the panic of seeing me like that."

"Right," Jack agreed with more than a hint of scepticism in his voice. "Because I felt so much better not knowing where the hell you were!"

Ianto winced and made a conscious effort not to react to Jack's anger. As tempting as it was to respond in kind, Ianto had to remind himself that Jack was right, and his anger was justified. No matter what his intentions had been, he had still put himself, and Owen, at grave risk. He only prayed that Jack never found out just how close he'd really come to losing his Ianto that day.

"I am so sorry, Jack. I never wanted to frighten you like that. Forgive me?"

Jack sighed, and Ianto watched him deflate right before his eyes.

"You scared me," Jack whispered shakily. "You scared me so badly, Yan. I don't ever want to feel that scared again."

The lingering fear in his lover's eyes was too much, so Ianto did the only thing he could think of. Pushing up off the bed, he wrapped his arms around Jack's body and claimed his lips in a fierce kiss. Jack responded with equal fervour, and when he pushed Ianto back down and pinned him to the bed, the Welshman didn't object. If letting Jack take control in this way comforted him then so be it, and with a sigh, he surrendered himself to his lover.

* * *

A while later, they lay sated in each other's arms. Hands stroked lazily over bodies in purely comforting gestures.

"You're really okay," Jack whispered, as though he hadn't completely believed it until that very moment. Ianto peered up at Jack in the dim light of the bunker, and noted a telling wetness in the other man's eyes.

"I really am."

There, in the sanctuary of the Hub, Ianto found it disturbingly easy to disregard what had happened. Instinct warned that he would not be able to keep it from Jack forever, and that he ought to tell him sooner rather than later. Not now, though, Ianto decided. Not here.

"So, whose idea was it?" Jack asked finally.

"Mine. I talked Owen into it."

Jack snorted softly.

"What did you blackmail him with?"

"I didn't need to blackmail him, or bribe him. When I explained the situation to him, he went with me willingly. He's a good man, Jack. I know I was against hiring him to begin with, but you made a good choice."

"Thankyou," Jack murmured. He paused, and then added, "You still should have waited."

"For what, Jack?" Ianto asked. "For them to start hunting indiscriminately? You know they would have eventually found their way into Cardiff, and then we would really have had a problem. I'm not sure that even the Doctor could have helped. They knew Earth is a class five, out-of-bounds planet, and they didn't care. They just laughed when I threatened them with the Shadow Proclamation. There really was no other choice."

Jack regarded Ianto critically.

"What are you trying to justify? That you went after them in the first place, or that you had to kill them?"

Again, Ianto froze at Jack's amazingly accurate perception again caught him off-guard. Tears stung his eyes as the reality of it all finally hit – from witnessing Jack suffer yet another horrific death, to his own terrifying brush with his apparently questionable mortality. He shuddered violently, and clutched tightly at Jack.

"It's okay," Jack whispered, holding Ianto to him protectively. "I'm sorry. It's okay."

Ianto pressed his face into Jack's shoulder.

"I didn't want to kill them. I just wanted to move them on. Get them off the planet."

"What happened?" Jack asked quietly. "Tell me, Yan."

"Do you promise not to get over-wrought if I do?"

Jack snorted.

"We just had awesome sex. I'm as relaxed as I can hope to be, given that I died slowly and painfully just a few hours ago. If you've got something to tell me, then now really is the best time."

Briefly, Ianto wondered whether Jack knew more about what had really happened than he was letting on, only to dismiss the thought.

"I went in… Yes, fully armed. I'm not a complete idiot."

Jack grunted and muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'debatable'. Ianto chose to ignore him.

"I sent Owen around to come in from another entrance, to try and give ourselves as much of an advantage as possible. Then I walked in and told them that they'd killed my mate, and that I demanded the right of vengeance."

Jack's hands stilled on his body, and Ianto wondered if he'd somehow said or done something wrong.

"You… told them I was your mate?"

"Well, I think my exact words were more along the lines of me being _mated_ to you, but yeah. I did. Why? Is something wrong? Should I not have done it?"

"It's fine," Jack whispered in a voice that was suddenly full of emotion. "It's just, the Clyreney are one of the few races out there that are as backwards as twenty-first century humans. They don't recognise same sex partners. They've put people to death for it."

Ianto had a brief moment of panic before he remembered that the aliens would have killed him regardless. With that thought in mind, he pressed a lingering kiss to Jack's throat.

"Even if I'd known, I still would have told them."

Jack sighed and finally relaxed beside Ianto.

"You're my hero, Yan," he murmured. Ianto chuckled ruefully.

"Hardly, cariad."

"You are. Look at how many times you've saved me."

Ianto reached up and ran his fingers through Jack's hair. He grimaced at the greasy feel of it.

"You need a bath, love. In fact, I think we both do."

"Mm," Jack sighed. "Bubble bath for two. We can wash each other."

"Only you could make that sound lewd," Ianto said with a chuckle. He fell quiet then, lost briefly in his own memories until Jack drew him back to the present with a kiss.

"What are you thinking, Yan?"

"About the first time I gave you a bath," Ianto admitted. He half expected a psychological retreat from Jack at the reminder of his time in captivity, but instead Jack smiled sadly.

"I remember that. I was so frightened of everything… I thought you were just taking me to be experimented on again. But you showed me that I didn't have to be frightened. You know, that was when I really started to trust you?"

"Really?" Ianto asked in surprise. That was news to him. He had always assumed that Jack had come to trust him well before then.

"Yeah," Jack confirmed. "You left me unattended while you got in the bath. For all you knew, I might have tried to run… or even take advantage and try to hurt you, but you trusted me not to do the wrong thing. And you proved to me once and for all that day that you weren't going to hurt me. Up until then, I still wasn't a hundred percent sure about you, but that clinched it for me."

"I would never have hurt you," Ianto assured him. "I'm just glad you realised that sooner rather than later."

Jack's hold on him tightened a little.

"I love you so much, Yan. Don't ever take another chance like you did today. I couldn't bear it if I lost you."

Ianto didn't bother to remind Jack that one day they would inevitably be parted. He knew it wasn't necessary. Instead, he settled in against Jack and let the exhaustion of the day's events finally start to over come him.

"You won't lose me, Jack," he mumbled. "Not for a long time yet. I promise."

Ianto felt more than heard Jack's responding sigh as the older man finally let sleep take him. With a smile, he let himself follow.

* * *

_to be continued..._


	5. Epilogue: Resolutions

Toshiko watched Owen quietly as he prodded aimlessly at the steak and chips in front of him. He was miles away and hadn't heard her the last three times she'd tried to get his attention. It didn't bother her. She guessed that part of it, at least, was that he was still trying to absorb everything that had happened, and everything he'd learnt within the last several hours. She could sympathise with that. It had thrown her for a loop, too, when she'd learnt the truth about Jack.

With that in mind, she opted to stay silent and give him the space he needed to come to terms with it all.

A small smile graced her face. Jack had made a good choice when he brought Owen into the fold. No one could deny that now. Not even Ianto.

* * *

Owen was, in fact, very much aware of Tosh's efforts to talk to him. He wasn't trying to be rude, he just wasn't ready to talk yet. Contrary to what Toshiko believed, though, it wasn't because he was in any way overwhelmed by everything he'd learnt. Right at that moment, Owen's thoughts were completely on Ianto, and the abnormal healing ability that he'd displayed.

By all accounts, Ianto should have died. He should have been lying on a slab in the Torchwood morgue, and not currently shagging the boss's brains out.

Not that he was complaining. The last thing he'd wanted was to have to be the one to deliver Ianto's dead body to the Captain. He might have been conceited and self-absorbed, but he wasn't blind. Jack and Ianto's devotion to each other was almost painfully obvious.

No, what Owen was thinking of most right then was how he was going to get away with giving the tea boy a thorough examination without making Jack suspicious. It would be so much easier if Ianto would just come clean and tell Jack what had happened, but no. Apparently he was determined to be a Class A idiot, and try to keep it secret.

Owen had no doubts at all that Jack would find out sooner or later. Things like this always came back to haunt, and when this particular cat was let out of its bag Owen didn't want to be anywhere near ground zero.

Shaking his head, he finally found the presence of mind to put a chip in his mouth, only to grimace at the realisation that his food was cold.

"Bloody hell," he growled. "What did they do, leave it sitting on the bench for twenty minutes? It's cold!"

"Of course it is," Tosh said reasonably. "It's been sitting there for nearly half an hour while you stared into space."

"Half an hour?" Owen echoed.

"Mm-hmm. It's okay, though. It's a lot to take in. About Jack, I mean."

Owen pushed his plate aside and dropped some money on the table. He then stood up and held out a hand to Tosh.

"Care to come for a walk with me, Miss Sato?"

She took his hand with a bright smile that warmed him through.

"I'd be delighted to, Dr Harper."

They left the pub, and head back towards the Plass, and the bay.

"Did they tell you the truth, Tosh? Or did you find out by accident, the same as me?"

She glanced sideways at him through a veil of jet black hair.

"Do you mean about Jack's immortality? Or about him being a prisoner of Torchwood?"

"You know Ianto told me about that, huh?"

"I overheard it on the comms when you were heading out to the warehouse, before the interference kicked in."

"Well, both, I guess."

"I found out mainly by accident," Tosh mused. "They told me about him having been a prisoner because Jack had a panic attack, and they wanted me to understand why. Learning about his immortality was a shock, but even though I found out more or less by accident, I know that Jack had planned on telling me anyway. They would have told you, too, Owen. Don't be angry with them. It's not easy for either of them to talk about."

Owen's thoughts went to what Ianto had told him in the car earlier that day.

"I guess it wouldn't be. It's hard to picture Jack as a victim," he admitted soberly.

"I did something that I probably shouldn't have done," Tosh confessed guiltily. "I found old CCTV footage of Jack, from when he was a prisoner in London."

Owen stared at her incredulously, and perhaps just a touch curiously.

"How? I thought the London branch was destroyed?"

"The computer mainframe wasn't. It remained intact. UNIT took possession of it in the aftermath. When Jack hired me, he told me to secure us electronically against UNIT infiltration. I had to hack into their system to do it."

"And you found the footage," Owen concluded.

"Yes. It was awful, Owen. They treated him like an animal. No, it was worse than that. We treat Brad the Weevil better than Jack was treated. Really, it's amazing that he's recovered so much."

"When Ianto told me about it today... I tell you, Tosh, I'd love to get my hands on just one of those bastards who held Jack prisoner."

"They're all dead," Tosh murmured, sounding none too sorry. "They died at Canary Wharf. Yvonne Hartman, Robin Spence... Everyone who had anything to do with Jack being held captive is dead. There's still UNIT, of course, but they don't dare touch him. He's got the favour of the Queen, and the protection of the Doctor."

Owen grunted.

"Not to mention, Ianto is pretty bloody scary when he goes all protective."

"I think it's sweet," Tosh said with a small smile. "They're so good together. And if you think Ianto is scary when Jack is being threatened, just wait until it's the other way around. Jack is terrifying when his Ianto is in danger."

Owen grimaced.

"I'm starting to think I was luckier today than I realised. If Ianto had been killed..."

"I don't want to think about that," Tosh said with a shudder. Owen slipped a comforting arm around her shoulders, but lapsed once more into silence. All the more reason, he decided silently, to work out just what was going on with Ianto, and exactly how much like Jack he really was. And if it had to happen in secret, then so be it. Just as long as Captain Sunshine didn't start thinking they were having an affair.

Because God knew, if Jack started thinking that then Owen was going to drop Ianto in the deep end, whether he could swim or not. No _way_ was he having Jack believe for an instant that he and the tea boy were shagging. Jack really _would_ kill him.

"Owen?" Tosh's voice broke once more into his reverie. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that that's got to be the nosy PC that Ianto warned us about," Owen said abruptly, quietly grateful for the diversion.

Tosh looked, and sure enough, pacing back and forth near the invisible lift was a dark-haired woman in a PC's uniform.

"I remember seeing her," Tosh murmured. "When Jack and I teleported back here, we landed just short of the invisible lift. There weren't a lot of people around, luckily, and no one seemed to notice us arrive... except her. Then I managed to get Jack inside the boundaries of the perception filter, and I'm fairly certain she couldn't see us anymore."

"Except, she saw enough," Owen said ruefully. "Now she's going to be like one of those bloody little terriers, impossible to shake off."

"Think we'll have to get Jack to retcon her?" Tosh wondered.

"We'll give it a couple of days. See if she gives up," Owen suggested. "If she doesn't, then we'll let Jack decide what to do. Who knows? Maybe he'll decide to give her a chance."

A grimace filled Tosh's face.

"Owen, he'd be more likely to want to shoot her. He doesn't trust anymore in authority, except for three people. The Doctor, the Queen and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart."

"Because of what happened to him, you mean."

"Exactly. Why do you think we have nothing to do with the local police, or UNIT, except to run roughshod over them? It's because Jack is afraid they'll try to lock him away again. That's his biggest fear, after losing Ianto. That PC over there would have to prove herself to be something special before Jack was willing to consider her for Torchwood."

Owen regarded Tosh with a bemused smile as he hugged her to him.

"Getting a bit territorial, aren't you, Tosh? You know there's no one who could ever take your place, don't you? And I'd choose you any day over a hundred gorgeous PCs."

Tosh peered up at him with raised eyebrows as they resumed walking towards the far side of the Plass, and the boardwalk.

"So you think she's gorgeous, do you?"

Owen winced.

"Did I say gorgeous?"

"Yes, you did."

"Right... What I really meant... I mean, I was just trying to..."

"Owen, stop. Before you dig yourself an even deeper hole, it's all right. I'm not mad. Do you know why?"

He just looked at her, as though he wasn't sure whether he should even attempt to answer that. Tosh smiled gently to reassure him.

"You said you'd choose me any day. Did you mean that?"

The startled rabbit look vanished from Owen's face, and on impulse he kissed the top of her head.

"Yes, I meant it. Now c'mon, Tosh. Let's go for a walk and leave our curious PC to her ramblings, shall we?"

He offered her his arm, then, which she took with a warm and genuine smile, and led her away from the invisible lift, and away from the persistent PC.

* * *

Deep beneath their feet, oblivious to what was happening on the surface, Jack and Ianto lay closely entwined. While Ianto slept soundly, thought, Jack lay awake and about as far from sleep as he could be. He watched Ianto with an intent gaze whilst he stroked one hand continuously over his lover's bare flesh.

He knew Ianto had not given him the whole truth about what had happened with the Clyreney, and that Owen had helped him to cover it up. What that truth might be, though, Jack couldn't fathom.

Ianto hadn't been concealing any injuries. Jack had gone over every inch of his body, searching for the tiniest hint that his lover had been seriously injured, but there was nothing. More to the point, Ianto's flexibility during their recent love-making had proven beyond doubt that there were no internal injuries.

He had also not hidden the fact that he and Owen had killed all of the Clyreney. So, whatever it was that Ianto wasn't telling him, Jack hadn't a clue. He was totally in the dark, and it was driving him nuts.

The rational side of him said that whatever Ianto was keeping from him, it was because the younger man must believe that he was better off not knowing. The less rational part of him was angry that Ianto was keeping secrets.

Unfortunately, the less rational side was far louder in its arguments.

The sound of whimpers broke through Jack's dark reverie, and he gathered Ianto in closer as the Welshman began to show signs of distress.

"It's okay," Jack whispered in between pressing soft kisses to Ianto's head and forehead. "I've got you, Yan toe. I've got you."

Gradually, Ianto settled once more – nightmare averted nicely, thankyou.

Warmed by the knowledge that he could still soothe his precious Ianto, Jack decided to give him time to come clean over whatever it was that he was hiding. After all, Jack conceded that it might be something that was causing Ianto a lot of confusion, and he might simply not know how to start talking about it.

His patience wasn't endless, though. If Ianto didn't talk to him soon, then Jack would have to consider confronting him about it, and that was something he didn't want to do unless he had to. For now, though, Ianto had a reprieve.

Humming softly, he snuggled down with Ianto once more, and let his mind drift.

* * *

Meanwhile, almost right above their heads on the Plass, PC Gwen Cooper stood and made a silent oath that she would solve the mystery of how two people had appeared so abruptly almost right in front of her, only to vanish again just as mysteriously.

She was nothing, if not tenacious, and she didn't care how long it took. She was going to find out what secrets the Plass seemed to protect, no matter how mad her partner thought her to be.

She'd show him, and her superiors. Something was going on here, and she was going to find out what it was, no matter how long it took.

* * *

_Fin._


End file.
